Service Maintenance light on the dash

[JBond]

Hi,
Any ideas as to what sensor would trigger this? Engine is running ok,
I haven't changed the oil in awhile. No smoke out the tail pipe. Oil
level is good.

Would the water pump have seized?

Model SL1 year 93

Thanks

[Steve]

Could be as simple as the gas cap is not on tight.

Steve

"JBond" <James.B...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9eda65f0-e74f-47f3...@n20g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

[Bob Shuman]

You said the engine is running well. In my opinion, this rules out the
water pump having seized. (Not sure what led you to that potential root
cause...) No smoke out the tail pipe is another good thing. Changing oil
regularly is excellent preventive maintenance for your engine, but again,
not related in any way to the check engine light being on.

The only thing you know for certain is that the engine computer has
determined there is a problem. This is based on the information it received
(or did not receive) from the various feedback sensors used to determine
overall health of the system. You really need to know the error code that
was set to provide insight into which sensor provided the bad data and set
the fault condition. If you are in the US, Autozone reads the OBD_II error
codes for free and can tell you the cause. Post the error code and
description once you have it and you are likely to get some useful direction
on what to check from this group.

Also post vehicle mileage, maintenance history, and all other symptoms you
are seeing (starts hard, poor acceleration, rough idle after warms up, poor
mileage, overheating, alternator light on, etc.)

Bob

"JBond" <James.B...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9eda65f0-e74f-47f3...@n20g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

[1993SL]

On Nov 21, 11:02 pm, "Bob Shuman" <no_spam_...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> You said the engine is running well. In my opinion, this rules out the
> water pump having seized. (Not sure what led you to that potential root
> cause...) No smoke out the tail pipe is another good thing. Changing oil
> regularly is excellent preventive maintenance for your engine, but again,
> not related in any way to the check engine light being on.
>
> The only thing you know for certain is that the engine computer has
> determined there is a problem. This is based on the information it received
> (or did not receive) from the various feedback sensors used to determine
> overall health of the system. You really need to know the error code that
> was set to provide insight into which sensor provided the bad data and set
> the fault condition. If you are in the US, Autozone reads the OBD_II error
> codes for free and can tell you the cause. Post the error code and
> description once you have it and you are likely to get some useful direction
> on what to check from this group.
>
> Also post vehicle mileage, maintenance history, and all other symptoms you
> are seeing (starts hard, poor acceleration, rough idle after warms up, poor
> mileage, overheating, alternator light on, etc.)
>
> Bob
>

> "JBond" <James.Bouch...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>
> news:9eda65f0-e74f-47f3...@n20g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Hi,
> > Any ideas as to what sensor would trigger this? Engine is running ok,
> > I haven't changed the oil in awhile. No smoke out the tail pipe. Oil
> > level is good.
>
> > Would the water pump have seized?
>
> > Model SL1 year 93
>
> > Thanks

I have the same situation.
1993 Saturn SL 4 Door
Engine Light Comes On and Off
Engine Oil Level ok
Fan Belt seems to be a bit loose, making low noise?
No visible smoke or such problem from tailpipe
Error Code 12 from OBD

Any idea what this error code means?

[Jon Jon]

After checking Steve and Bob's suggestions and if your codes show the
same, etc - it could be an EGR Valve - had similar thing happening with
my '98 Saturn - replaced EGR Valve and all was good then.

[John Smithy]

<snip>

>
> The only thing you know for certain is that the engine computer has
> determined there is a problem. This is based on the information it
> received (or did not receive) from the various feedback sensors used to
> determine overall health of the system. You really need to know the error
> code that was set to provide insight into which sensor provided the bad
> data and set the fault condition. If you are in the US, Autozone reads
> the OBD_II error codes for free and can tell you the cause. Post the
> error code and description once you have it and you are likely to get some
> useful direction on what to check from this group.
>

<snip>

Please DO go to Autozone for the free check.
My daughter has a '03 Mitsubishi that had the "Check Engine" light come on
and was due for an oil change anyway.
Had I known this I would've told her about Autozone.
The Mitsubishi dealer did the check (in less than 5 minutes) and it was a
simple "History" fault that actually wasn't a problem.
They reset it and charged $90 for one hour of diagnostic service.
So after sales tax, she basically paid nearly $130 for an oil change.

[JBond]

Most distressing. Many of us are busy beavers, and don't have the
time to wrestle with the gougers that give the rest of the industry a
bad name.

I'm in Canada, and don't have access to "Autozone" for a free OBD
reading.
I'll need to negotiate a price with a local shop somewhere. Certainly
won't be a dealership.
I'll post the code later.